Dems highlight N.J. traffic jam tapes

Democrats sought to keep New Jersey’s traffic jam scandal in the spotlight — and increase the pressure on Gov. Chris Christie — with the release Friday of emergency dispatcher and 911 audio recordings from last fall’s gridlock.

The traffic jams near the George Washington Bridge appear to have been orchestrated by Christie aides and allies as part of an alleged payback scheme against a Democratic mayor who didn’t endorse the Republican governor for reelection. The episode has threatened Christie’s potential presidential ambitions in 2016.

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Frustrated emergency dispatchers are heard in the recordings as they confronted the heavy traffic in the Fort Lee area. Some of their discussions, including those about the “total gridlock,” the traffic “nightmare” and an elderly injured woman who had “been waiting for over an hour,” were previously reported when The Associated Press reviewed dispatch logs earlier this month.

AP concluded that the traffic jam “appeared not to lead to anyone’s death or seriously compromise their medical care” but that that outcome “reflects good fortune, not good planning.”

Fort Lee released the recordings Friday after requests from a variety of groups, including state and national news organizations; Christie’s outside counsel, Randy Mastro; and the liberal research firm American Bridge, according to Borough Clerk Neil Grant.

American Bridge created a website where it posted the emergency dispatcher recordings and produced a Web video with “highlights.”

“The audio from these tapes provides a window into the burden local law enforcement and emergency response workers shouldered while Christie’s administration sought to penalize a political foe of the governor,” said Gwen Rocco, a spokeswoman for American Bridge, in a statement.

Fort Lee’s coordinator of emergency medical services had aired his concerns about the “unusual” and “unnecessary” delays in a letter to the mayor, Mark Sokolich, last September while the lanes were closed. Sokolich is the mayor who is alleged to have been the target of the political retribution by Christie aides and allies.

The coordinator outlined four medical emergencies where the response was impacted by the traffic. The letter surfaced in early January as the involvement of Christie allies in the lane closures and subsequent fallout became more clear.

The release comes as state lawmakers and a U.S. attorney continue their probes into the four days worth of traffic jams last September, which were caused by closures of lanes onto the busy bridge.

Christie has denied any personal involvement in the scheme and fired or distanced himself from people who were alleged involved. His office declined to comment on American Bridge’s statement on Friday. A lawyer for Sokolich declined to comment on the recordings’ release.